Spring-motor vehicle.



No. 695,430; Patented Mar. n, |902.-

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No. 695,43). Patented Mar. |902.

C. A. HAAS.

SPRING MOTOR VEHICLE.

Y (Application led Dec. 12, 1901.)

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, NIE" STATES AEN-r EEIGE.

OYRIIS A. I-IAAS, OEHS'r. LOUIS, MISSOURLASSIGNOR To OHARLES II. DODGE j AND EDWARD OIIAsE, OE Sr.' LOUIS, MISSOURI.

,'sPmNG-MOTOR VEHIOLE sPEcIrrcAmIoN foaming part of Letters Patent No. 695,430, dated. March 11, 1902.

Application filed December 12,1901. Serial No. 65,637. (No model.) v i 'I j,

.To all wwni, it may concern:4 Beit known that l, CYRUS A.

a part hereof.

My inventionhas relation to improvements in spring-'motor vehicles; and it consists-in, the novel construction and arrangemntof parts more fully set for'th'in the specification?l 'I' Ya spring-propelled vehiclewhichshall store top Yplan of and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1. s a the vehicle with portions of the body portion broken away to show. the operating parts.T

Fig. 2 is a side elevation with `parts of the body portion broken away. Fig. 3 is a front elevation with portions of thebody portion removed. Fig. 4 isA a horizontal section on line 4 4 of Fig. 9, showing one endof the se-y ries of cups andindividual sections of springs constituting the composite spring of my motor. Fig. 5 is a sectional detail .of the cup constituting the abutment of the composite spring. Fig. 6 is a sectional detail of the .-v

first cup of the series mounted on the windingba'r,'bein g the cup farthest removed from the gear-wheel and cup at the opposite end, as shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is an end elevation of Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is a top'plan of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is la transverse section on line 9 9 of Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 10 is a sectional detail of the ring or collar carried by the winding-bar over which the terminal cup shown in Fig'. 6 is passed, and to which the first spring is directly se# cured. Fig. 11 is an enlarged end elevation of the standard carrying theforward end of the winding-bar` and of .the contact-disk or drive-shaft. Fig.'l2 is atopplan thereof,

showing also a section of the controller-chain. Fig. 13 is an elevation i of the rear standard carrying the sprocket-wheel over which the con troller-chain passes. thereof. Fig. 15 is a transverse vertical sec- Fg. 16 is a sectional detail of the differential gear carried by the rear axle. Fig. 17 is a detail of the drive-shaft, showin g grooves for antifriction- HAAS, a citizen of the United States, residing at St.` Louisg State ofMissourL-have inventedcertainnew4 and usefullmprovements in Spring-,Motor Vehicles, of which the following isa-full, clear, and exact description, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming A i' `the feather alonggwhich the friction spur-disk Fig. 14 is a top plan rollers. Y FigslSyis a cross-section on lline 18 -18 of vFig.v1 17,? showing Jthefeathervto `which* the contactedisfk is keyed, Fig. 19 is la" detail of the winding-bar,`showing grooves for the reception of ball-bearings. Fig. 20 is an end View showing the polygonal head to which -the winding-keyisapplied. Fig.2lis a trans- .versesection `on line2l 21.0fFig519, showing is moved; .and Fig.122 isan enlarged detail l showing the hollow post carrying thefcontroller-staff. f' f Y a maximumguantity oftpowerin a minimum amount of space, the economy in the latter .being accomplished by substituting for one .driving-spring a series of separate springs coupled together to produce a joint effect, as Willmorefully hereinafter appear.

A further object is to construct a vehicle -whieh can bereadily stopped or reversed, one whose speed can be readily adjusted, and one Apossessing further and other advantages betten-.apparent froma detailed description of .the invention, which is as follows.

yloodyof the vehicle, which may be of any approved design. Mounted on the rear axle A `is acasing 1, constituting the rotatable secl tion of any form of differential driving-gear, (though one form will subsequently be described.. herein,) 'said casing serving as a sprocket-wheel for the drive-chain 2, whose opposite end passes over a sprocket-wheel 3,

secured to the transverse drive-shaft 4,mount ed in bearings 4'v 4 beneath the seatof the bodyportion V. Rotation is imparted to the drive-shaft from the'spring-motor by mechanism which in detail may be described as Referri'ngto the drawings, V represents the 'The objectzotrny invention is .to construct follows: Slidingly feathered to the forward j end of the winding bar or shaft 5 (by the rotation of which, as presently to appear, the Asprings are woundl up) is a friction sp'urwheel or disk 6, Whose periphery is provided .with a series of Woodber bands 7 to insure amore positive grip, the grooved hub 6 of said wheel being embraced by the' forked endof a link S, whose opposite end is coupled, respectively, to the adjacent lap of the controller sprocketchain 9 and to a block 10, sliding on a rod 10',

IOC

. g K K mounted between the standards llrand 11'. In front of the seat is a hollow post 12, provided with a central housing or enlargement 12', within which is confined the sprocketwheel 13, over which the chain 9 passes, the opposite end of the chain passing overa similar sprocket 14 on top of the standard 11. The wheel13 is carried by a staff l5, confined in the hollow post, the staff being rotated in either direction by the controller lever or handle 16, coupled thereto directly over the post. By rotating the handle 1G in either direction rotation will be imparted to the wheels 13 and 14C and chain 9, the block 10 being made to slide by the draft of the chain along the rod 10' in either direction, said block in turn reciprocating the link S, which thus shifts the spur wheel or disk 6 along the feather f'on the winding-bar, the disk 6 of course rotating with the said bar under the action of the springs, as presently to be seen. The adjacent end of the drive-shaf t et has secured thereto a terminal contact-disk 17, adapted to be driven by frictional contact with the disk 6 against the plane face thereof. When by means of the controller 16 the disk 6 is moved opposite or in line with the axis of rotation of the disk 17, of course no rotation can be imparted to the latter under the circumstances, but if shifted so as to contact therewith on either side of said axis, then motion will be imparted thereto, and this in a direction depending upon which side of the axis the disk G is on. Furthermore, the farther the disk Gis moved from the axis of the disk 17 the greater will be the leverage exerted by the disk 6 against disk 17 and the greater the speed imparted to the shaft 4 and to the vehicle, so that not only can the direction of travel and speed thereof be controlled with the greatest nicety, but the vehicle can be stopped gradually by shifting the disk G against the center of the disk 17, (or opposite the shaft 4,) where the resistance offered to the free rotation of the disk G will be at a maximum, thus stopping the rot-ation thereof and of the shaft 4f.

The spring driving mechanism or lnotor may be described as follows: Secured to the winding-bar 5 at a convenient point along the length thereof is a ring or collar 1S, over which is slipped one (the first) of a series of cups C, each provided with a hub 19, adapted to enter the chamber of the next adjacent cup. The hub of the last cup of the series C enters the chamber of the terminal cup C', formed integrally with the gear-wheel 20, freely rotatable about the winding-bar and which is located near the rear end of said bar. Meshing with the gear-wheel 20 is a similar lgear-wheel 20', freely rotatable about an axle 21, disposed parallel to the bar 5, the axle 21 being mounted between the standards 22 23, respectively, the forward standard having formed integrally therewith the hub portion of a terminal stationary cup C". Into this cup C there is inserted the hub 19of another cup C, which in turn receives the hub of the next adjacent cup, and so on until the last cup receives the hub 19, formed integrally with the gear-wheel 20', it being understood that the cups C strung on the bar 5 are the reverse in position from those nested together on the axle 21. Within the chamber of each cup is coiled a spring S around the bar 5 and a spring S around the axle 2l. Beginning with the ring 1S, the inner end of the spring is secured to said ring and the outer end to the peripheral wall of the first cup C. The next spring has its inner end secured to the hub 19 of said first cup C and its outer end to the inner peripheral wall of the next succeeding cup receiving said hub, and so on till the last cup is reached,when the spring whose inner end is secured to the hub thereof has its outer end secured to the inner peripheral wall of the cup C. Beginning again with the cup C", the spring S', whose outer end is secured to the inner peripheral wall thereof, has its inner end secured to the hub 19 of the next adjacent cup nesting therein. "The peripheral wall of this cup is again connected by a spring S with the hub of'the next following cup, and so on till the last cup is reached, when thespring coiled therein has its inner end coupled to thehub 19', carried by the gear-wheel 20', so that, following the series of springs from the cup C along the bar 5 to the gears 2O 20, thence along the axle 21 to the cup C, we find that the first spring of the series has its inner endfixed to the collar 18 and the last of the springs `S has its outer end secured to the cup C", the series between these extreme springs being connected in the manner indicated and forming virtually one long spring, whose stationary abutment is in the cup C and whose opposite point of attachment is on the Winding-bar 5, Figs. 4, 5, and 6. If, therefore,we applyawinding-key K to the projecting rear polygonal head 5 of the winding-bar 5 and wind the latter in thc direction indicated by arrows, Fig. 9, the first spring to be subjected to tension will be the spring coupled' directly to the ring 1S, this tension being successively communicated through the successively-nested cups C tothe various springs until the gear 2O is reached, when the latter will be rotated in the direction of the winding. This will impart a rotation to the gear-wheel 20 in an opposite direction, thereby similarly winding up the springs S (set reversely to the springs S) until all the sections of the composite spring are wound up, the last section, as already stated, being secured to the stationaryabutment C. The composite spring in unwinding ofcourse imparts rotation to the bar 5, and thus in turn to the train of gearing, as already described, thus propelling the vehicle. To permit the bar 5 to be wound up, of course the spur-disk G must for the time being be disengaged from the contact-disk 17. This is accomplished by loosening slightly the crank-nut B, by which the adjacent end of IOO IIO

vFig. 11.) When the machine is wound up,`

the nut B can be tightened, the spring 25 depressedand thedisk 6 madeto rengagethe disk 17 to any degree necessary to insure driving of the latter. 24' represents the standard supporting the rear end of winding-bar 5.

No claim is made herein to the diderential gear, ofA which the casingl constitutes the outer shell, as such geariswellknown in the market; but a veryordinary form of this gear is represented in Fig. 16. The rearaxle is made sectionahthe'adjacent ends of the two'v sections havingsecured thereon the bevel gear-wheelsZ 26, the casing havingmounted on its inner peripheral wall ,betweenl the gearsV Y 26a series o f pinions.2 6', engaging both sets of gear-wheels. Th'ecasing itself isloose 0nthe ax-le, andfnitsl rotation the pinions` simply grip (without themselves rotating) [the bevel-gears 26,-and thus impart simultaneous and-equal rotation-to both sections of the axle. Should one of the sections, however,y tend to revolve slower than the other-as, for example, in turning a corner-the pinions 2 6 simply revolve over the slower one of the bevel-gears While driving thefaster one, the-y amount ofrotation imparted to` the pinions depending on the differencein speed between the two sections of the axle. 'i

The spring-motos can of course be applied to any machinery, and its-application isnot limited to vehicles. So can, too, the details of the vpresent construction be altered without in any wise departing from the spirit of my invention. Y

Having rdescribed my invention, what I c1aimis- .j 1. In a springmotor vehicle, a suitable spring-motor, a winding-bar for the .same,a friction spur-disk slidingly feathered onsaid bar and rotatable therewith, a grooved hub forming a part of said disk, a forked arm embracing said hub, a block coupled tothe opposite end of said arm, a rod along whichthe block isfree to slide, a hollow post mounted on the vehicle, a staff in said post, a sprocketwheelon said staif, a second sprocket-wheel rearward of said post, a chain connecting said sprocket-wheels, and having one lap coupled to the block aforesaid, and an operating-handle for said staff, whereby upon rotation of the sta-ff, the block and arm, and consequently the spur-disk'maybe adjusted-atwill, substantially as set forth.

Ina spring-motor vehicle, a, suitable rotatable winding-bar, a gear-.wheel loosely mountedat one end thereof, a cup carried'by -said gear-wheel, a series of cups each having ahub'portion ypassed overthe bar, the hubof one cup beinginserted into thechamber of the next` adjacent cup, the last cup ofthe series farthest removed from the gear-wheel belingpassed over a ring secured tothe windingbar,springs having eachone end secured to the 'wall of onecup and the opposite end to the hub of the next adjacent cup, an aXle mounted adjacent and parallel tothe winding-bar, a gearwheel loosely mounted at oneend thereof and meshing with the first-named gear-wheel, A a

hub formingpart of said second.gear, a series of cups nesting with the hub of thegear-wheel and the hubs of thecups each respectivelyinserted-into theJchamberof the next succeeding v4cup, the last cupoflthe seriesfarthest re.-

4 moved fromfthe gear-wheel being rigidly. se? .curedor-fixed to serve as anabutment, asedisk carried by said winding-bar, a vdriveshaft, l a contact-disk onv said shaft actuated the spurdiskand means for disengaging the spur-disk from thecOntact-disk 'during the winding ofthe motor, substantially asset forth.y

4f.V In a spring-motor vehicle, aspring-'actnated winding-bar, a friction spur-disk-slidingly feathered to,and rotatable with said bar, a drive-shaft for the vehicle, Aa-,contact-disk on said shaft adapted to be actuated by the foo spur-disk, means for disengaging .thespur-v l disk'from the contact-disk during thewinding of the motor, a controller-staff, and intermediate vconnections between said staifand'spurdisk for shiftingvtheposition of the latter along the windingbar and shiftingthe point of contact between the contact-disk and spur-j disk, substantially asset forth. In testimony whereof Iaffix` my. signature in presence of two Witnesses. t OYRUS A. IIAAS.. Witnesses: j

EMIL STAREK, G. L. BELFRY. 

